actuate

American  

[ak-choo-eyt] / ˈæk tʃuˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

actuates, present (3rd person singular) actuated, past participle, past actuating present participle

1. to incite or move to action; impel; motivate.

   actuated by selfish motives.

2. to put into action; start a process; turn on.

   to actuate a machine.

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actuate British  

/ ˈæktʃʊˌeɪt /

verb

1. to put into action or mechanical motion

2. to motivate or incite into action

   actuated by unworthy desires

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• actuation
  noun
• actuator
  noun
• deactuate
  verb (used with object)
• self-actuating
  adjective
• unactuated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• actuating
  present
• actuated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• actuate
  simple
• actuates
  simple
• have actuated
  perfect
• has actuated
  perfect
• am actuating
  progressive
• are actuating
  progressive
• is actuating
  progressive
• have been actuating
  perfect progressive
• has been actuating
  perfect progressive

Past

• actuated
  simple
• had actuated
  perfect
• was actuating
  progressive
• were actuating
  progressive
• had been actuating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will actuate
  simple
• will have actuated
  perfect
• will be actuating
  progressive
• will have been actuating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of actuate

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Medieval Latin āctuāt(us) “reduced to action” (past participle of āctuāre ), equivalent to Latin āctu(s) ( see act) + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

To actuate is to put into motion. The "act" in actuate can remind you of this word's meaning — to put into action. A lever might actuate a pump, or malice might actuate a crime. Coming to us from the Latin word actus, which means "to act," actuate's meaning is simpler than it sounds — it just means to set in motion or activate some kind of motion. Think of one of those complex Rube Goldberg mouse traps; you know, the one where the boot kicks the ball that drops on the plank that tips over the ladder which rings a bell that cracks an egg that knocks over the cage onto the unsuspecting mouse. The boot actuates the whole shebang.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

actuate actuates actuated actuating

The MIT researchers wanted a fiber that could actuate silently and change its shape dramatically, while being compatible with common textile manufacturing procedures.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023

You need to press them 1.9mm before they actuate, compared to 1.2mm for Cherry MX Speed Silver, for example.

From The Verge ● Mar. 18, 2022

"My task was to design the means of allowing a customer, and only a genuine customer, to actuate the dispenser mechanism," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2016

Screens were mostly resistive, that is, hard to actuate with a tap. 

From Forbes ● Apr. 25, 2011

These represent the main tendencies which actuate mankind in public affairs—the go-ahead and the stand-still.

From Practical Politics; or, the Liberalism of To-day by Robbins, Alfred Farthing

By carefully mixing chemicals to synthesize the LCE, the researchers can control the final properties of the fiber, such as its thickness or the temperature at which it actuates.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023

Or, if you want the keyboard to feel as responsive as possible, you might set the actuation point to 0.5mm, so you barely have to touch the key before it actuates.

From The Verge ● Nov. 23, 2021

There are also a huge number of different kinds of Cherry MX switches, each of which takes a different amount of pressure to press and actuates in a different way.

From The Verge ● Jun. 21, 2019

“What will then be left of what Madison called ‘the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America, the spirit which nourishes freedom and in return is nourished by it’?” wondered Azerrad.

From MSNBC ● Sep. 24, 2014

“I fear, Octavian, you often do not account for self-interest. ’Tis only self-love and self-interest which actuates animals.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

In a statement issued by his lawyer, Wootton said the allegations were "completely spurious - lies designed to destroy my career where complainants were actuated by malice".

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2024

The researchers replaced the heart muscle in the left chamber with a silicone-made soft robotic pump system actuated by air.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 10, 2024

He tinkered with electrically actuated floating mines and bought ships for the Confederate navy; one, the CSS Georgia, had a long run raiding Union merchants.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 2, 2021

"The undisputed facts and reasonable inferences point ineluctably to the conclusions that Thicklen's abhorrent acts were in no way actuated by a purpose to serve county," he wrote.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2020

Whether she was really an agent of the Thought Police, or simply an amateur spy actuated by officiousness, hardly mattered.

From "1984" by George Orwell

To tackle this lack of resistance to gusts, the researchers mounted sensors onto an actuating blade shaft to measure the air forces acting on it.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2024

Bao’s artificial nerves already do something similar, adding up mechanical signals and converting them into an actuating one.

From Nature ● Nov. 20, 2018

Such questions grow more urgent as we fill our homes – and bodies – with sensor-studded, actuating surveillance robots.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 21, 2015

When a ball enters the split segment of pipe, it pushes the two halves of the pipe apart, actuating a switching device.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 1, 2011

Here, by dint of working up to their knees in water, the artificers succeeded in bolting it in position, and the preliminary trial of the actuating rods gave promise of success.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)